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Friday, June 22, 2012

Dia duit gach duine! It's been so hot outside the past few days! Poor Licorice has been sitting right in front of the air conditioner nonstop because of her thick fur. All I've really wanted to do is sit in the shade with a book, but my parents have had other ideas.

Yesterday, my dad's friend invited us over to his house for a pot roast. Normally I would be fine with that, except for one problem. All of my dad's friends' children are either grown-up, think they're grown-up, four year olds that still cling to their mommy, or nonexistant. I begged Daid to let me take Kaya or Josefina with us so that I wouldn't be stuck in an awkward conversation about how much I've grown and what I've been learning in school.

Dúirt sé UIMH.

As we were leaving, Mam took a picture of me sulking (and looking quite diva-ish if you ask me).

I did cheer up a little bit, however, when we got there and saw that they owned a HUGE in-ground pool!

Before jumping in, I tested the water with my feet.

"Ahh! Ró-fhuar!"

I decided that I'd start by sitting on a float in the middle of the pool, and pretending I was brave enough to jump in.

"This beats getting wet any day!"

I finally did work up the nerve to go swimming, but not for very long. I never, however, was brave enough to put my head underwater, let alone jump in!

Here I am drying off:

I love to sunbathe!

That hour was the highlight of my day. Now that I think about it, it probably wouldn't have been a good idea to bring Kaya along. She would've dived in naked!

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Dia duit gach blagairí duit! Today was my last day of school! Unfortunately...it was also my 5th grade graduation. It's not that I'm not excited to go to middle school, because I am. It's just that watching other kids get awards you were so sure you would get--like "Most Artistic" or "Most Talented"--isn't that great for a 10 year old's self-esteem. Especially when that 10 year old wins the most embarrassing award of all...

I arrived in a room decorated with a few lonely balloons and wilting flowers. Most of the kids were already there, and looking as fancy as a 5th grader cares to: boys in button-up shirts, girls with cute dresses and headbands. So you can imagine my surprise when Kaya waltzed in, all decked out in a traditional Pow-Wow outfit, not at all concerned of letting everyone know that she wasn't from 2012.

"What are you doing?" I whispered to her. "Trying to give yourself away? Because it's working!" I motioned to a group of girls murmuring amongst themselves, glancing in Kaya's direction."Oh, cool it." Kaya shot back. "They're only whispering because I'm not wearing what THEY think is appropriate. There's no way they even believe in time travel."When Josefina politely agreed with her, my mood starting going downhill. I was about to respond with a weak excuse for a comeback when Mam, my mom, bounced over and demanded a group picture.

That sure put our argument to an end. Mam has a way with making people smile, even when they're in the worst of moods. Every now and then I see bits of her in Josefina, which is good because Kaya and I may otherwise get a little foréigneach.

Shortly after our picture, the ceremony began. The teachers were handing out the awards in alphabetical order, which meant Kaya went first."Kaya'aton'my," our teacher began, "you are the winner of the title of..."

"...Most Athletic!"

Nobody was surprised, not even Kaya. She seems to be amazing at every sport she tries, even though she hasn't heard of any of them. She can run faster than all of the boys in my school, and I bet she's stronger than they are, too. Every teacher says that she's "going places" with her athleticism. I wonder if they would still be saying that if they knew that she was only in 2012 temporarily?

Two boys followed Kaya, winning "Class Clown" and "Most Creative", and then it was my turn. As my teacher announced my name, I thought of all the possible awards I could receive. Maybe "Most Fluent in Two Languages" or "Most Likely to be a Millionaire"! I was completely caught off guard when my teacher said these words...:

"Most Improved"??? Of all awards, that's what I get? "Most Improved" is a teacher or coach's way of saying, "Well Saoirse, you sure did stink at the beginning of the year, but you're somewhat better now, so have an award!" I will admit that when I first moved here I was a little bit behind, but that's mainly because my school in New York was teaching different units. I don't think being told that the only memorable thing I did these past few months was improve is a fair punishment for that!

The one good thing that happened during that hour of watching other kids receive tábhachtach awards was seeing the smile on Josefina's face when she won...

..."Student of the Year"! The teachers gave her a bouquet of flowers and everything! What's even better is that her name gets to be added to a plack that hangs near the office so that kids can be jealous of her for years and years to come!

One thing I love about Josefina is that she never brags. After the ceremony ended, she congratulated Kaya and I endlessly, and told us over and over what amazing awards we had received. Well, she sure knows how to flatter someone, because I left the school in a better mood than when I walked in.

Monday, June 18, 2012

Dé Luain Shona! I had an awesome weekend! Josefina, Kaya and I used the time machine that is stationed near Josefina's house to visit the MTTB (Maine Time Travel Base) and my blogging friend Dani for the first time (you can read her blog at http://dabblingdani.blogspot.com/). Kaya and Josefina were reunited with girls they have known through time travel for years: Molly McIntire, Emily Bennett, Laughing Spirit, and Nicki Flemming. I met Lilly Hyde, a girl who I talked with during my six hour bus ride from New York to Maine, for the second time. Come to find out she's actually from the 90s!

I was a little nervous meeting Dani face-to-face for the first time, but she was really nice. She introduced me to her three dogs Saturn, Argos, and Munich, and they quickly became friends with my dog Coconut. Here they all are, along with me and Dani:

That night we watched a dÚsachtach movie called "Thomas and the Magic Railroad". I was very confused throughout the whole thing, but thankfully Dani was there to guide me through it!

I was sad to leave the next morning, but at least now I know she's only a few button-pushes away! We had Lilly take one more picture as I was getting ready to leave:

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Dia duit! Welcome to my blog! All week it's been raining! I've been really wanting to take some pictures, but every time it looks like it's about to clear up, it starts pouring again! To give me something to do other than sit and moan on the couch, my mom asked me to help look through a box of things from her childhood. Even though my mom is Irish, she moved to America for a few years in 1975 when she was 8 (the same age I moved to America!), so there was a huge mixture of two different cultures in the box. There was a cowgirl clapper, a doll with red hair and blue eyes, and a Cabbage Patch Kid. Towards the bottom of the box, though, were my favorite things--a swimsuit, sweatshirt, shorts, and roller skates from the 70s!

My mom told me that she got those when she was about my age, and said they might fit me. I tried them on and they fit perfectly!

The roller skates were my favorite part. I spent the rest of the day skating noisily around the house. So far I've been super clumsy, and haven't been able to skate very far without grabbing onto a wall for support!

That's it for today! I'll be having my 5th grade graduation soon, so I'll be posting about that in the near future!